Welcome to "Dust, Tears & Dice", a blog dedicated to the hobby of miniature wargaming.
If you fancy gaming periods off the beaten track then this is the place for you.
I am a regular member of The Wyvern Wargamers, formerly The Evesham Wargames Club drawing gamers from Worcester, Redditch, Kidderminster, Cheltenham and Stratford.
All players welcome.

Sunday, January 01, 2017

2016 A year in review.

Another year gone in a flash.
Hard to believe the blog has been going 5 and a half years, in what is now the New Year custom, I thought I would
look back over the past 12 months and review the projects undertaken and
consider the potential ideas for the year ahead.

The
year started so well with a reasonable amount of time in front of the
brushes, but I fell away badly in the second part of the year, what with
real life challanges and illness. Still I do find that the Christmas
break is a great way of kick starting the year ahead.

Surprisingly
I kept new projects to only a few and actually completed a couple of
them to a point where now I am only looking at impulse purchases at
future shows - I am a sucker for all things shiny.
Most of my focus was again in the Far East with Japanese cavalry finally making it to the gaming for the RJW.

The
largest project came due to a new recruit over at the Wyverns in the
form of Furphy who had a passion for modern warfare in particular
Chechnya.

Chechnya & Urban Sci-fi - 15mm

I
had been looking for quite a while for a set of ultra modern rules
which allowed me to put on large scale skirmishes without the book
keeping of some of the current crop of modern squad level games. I found
myself drifting back into retro gaming of the 1980's with the use of
Laserburn, Imperial commander. Loads of Dice, Casualties and fun.

I completed a modern Russian force complete with BMP's and BTR's, Chechin insurgents and supporting Artillery.

If
that were not enough, the Russians were expanded to include some more
modern/Sci-Fi vehicles and walkers to combat an impulse purchase from
Rebel Miniatures in the US - Out of world invaders who happened to have
landed in Eastern Europe.
Or simply an excuse to use the growing collection of resin buildings.

Not to bad at all two projects completed in full in less than 6 months.

With the mass of new releases for the Cold War wargaming in 2016/2017 who knows this may see a further expansion in the year ahead, besides I have a Russian village that's sitting in a box some where which needs to join the paint queue.

The Water Margin/Sung Chinese - 28mm

Having
agreed to put on a participation game at Hammerhead in March the Water
Margin Project continued apace. With cavalry and more government forces
added to the collection.

Hammerhead was a cracking days gaming with oriential fortune cookies for all who took part.

I
had loose plans for
converting Dux Britanniarum to Ancient China but the release of
Watchful Studio's Kickstarter provided me with some fantasy elements
(which have yet to grace the table) so I switched to Advanced Songs of
Blades and Heroes which gave the right feel, however I now have enough
forces to use for Dragon Rampant for larger conflicts if I actually sat
down and worked out the stats.

Napoleon in Egypt - Sharp Practice 2

Finally
in the later part of the year, the Egypt project was back up and
running, the nudge provided by the release of the Too Fat Lardies -
Sharp Practice 2 and the campaign rules - Dawns and Departures.
This upgrade is begining to last as long as the campaign itself.

A number of these
mini's have been languishing in their storage box for a year or so, but with
new releases from Brigade Games and Perry Miniatures the project is very much back on for 2017.

So what else for the year ahead?

So far the plans are some what loose but they do have a Black Powder feel to them.

Napoleon in Egypt - Sharp Practice 2
I
need to finish the core French force which are in the final stages on
the paint table - Perry Miniatures have produced a number of new
releases including cavalry for the French so these will be a muster -
just can't decide on camels or horses?

Haiti Revolution - Sharp Practice 2
Ever
since the Lardy day back in the summer I have been drawn to the Haiti
Revolution, I am justifying the purchases as another excuse to use my
jungle terrain, but the truth is, Trent miniatures produce some lovely
figures and the period is crying out to be gamed using Sharp Practice.
British, French, Spanish, Slaves and Free People.

Warlords of Atlantis - Cutlass!
Since
the impulse purchase from Antediluvian miniatures and their excellent
Atlantians I have an urge for a Black Powder/Pulp cross over skirmish
affair.

I
picked up a number of packs of Black Scorpions Pirate range during the
2016 show circuit that have not seen the light of day yet. Perhaps a
coastal community attacked by the Atlantians or maybe something a little
more main stream wreckers vs Crown forces?

I am not sure whether this was to much junk telly over Christmas. But why do I find myself Googling 28mm crabs?

Outside
of these firm ideas, I can see more colonials making an appearance due
to the fun games we have had with Dan Mersey's excellent rules The Men
who would be Kings.

Perhaps French Foreign Legion as I
look to expand my desert terrain and give it more uses or even Pathans
but this could be a little more challanging on the terrain front.
Mongols could make an appearance to give me a few more uses for the Chinese village - but the thought of more cavalry - eek.
And
then there could be a couple of purchases to support some of the newer
rule sets Broken Legion, Rogue Stars - both of which offer interesting
campaign ideas.

Well all in all 2017 should be another fun year if only I can keep a focus.......

On the painting front 2016 was a pretty good performance producing over 200 foot figures but well short of the 300+ from 2015.

Me to Kev, there looks like some nice new models coming on to the market what with the new Frostgrave variant later in the year. So I can see this taking shape sooner rather than later, just need to keep the focus on Egypt before something shiny comes along.All the best.Stu